China unveil's new reforms, to give decisive role to market

In a bid to arrest its sliding growth, China's ruling Communist Party today unveiled new "wave of reforms" to give the market a "decisive role" in the allocation of resources while retaining the public sector's dominance in the world's second largest economy.
Billed as the big ticket reforms, building on the first package announced in 1978 after the end of the Mao Zedong-era, the top leadership approved the reforms aimed at halting the slowdown of country's economy, which slipped from double digit growth rates to around seven per cent in the last two years.
The reforms are aimed to improve and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics and push on with modernisation of the country's governing system and capabilities, an official communique issued at the end of the Plenum consisting of the 376-member central committee, said.

Though, China emerged as an open economy in the last three decades, CPC swears by socialism saying that its aim is to build on the "paramount reality" that China remains in the primary stage of socialism and will remain so for long.
"Economic reform is key, and the core solution is the proper relationship between the government and the market, leaving the market to play the decisive role in allocation of resources," the communique said after the four-day meeting.
While the communique issued after the meeting of the top policy body of the CPC touched on the broad reforms approved in various sectors, the party significantly appeared to have broadened the role of ownership and improved property rights protection in the country.

China is yet to open land rights to private owners completely. At present, all land is owned by the government but sold to buyers with long-term lease.

"China is to promote an economy with diverse forms of ownership," the communique said, widening the role of the ownership and the private sector.
Development in non-public sector will be encouraged which will in turn stimulate vitality and creativity in the economy, while maintaining the dominance of the public sector, it said.
This was regarded as a victory for the hardliners in the party who were against the dilution of the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) which emerged as biggest leviathans owning hundreds of billions of properties at home and abroad.

"Both public and non-public sectors of the economy are important components of the socialist market economy and significant basis for economic and social development," the statement said.